State Farm Overview

State Farm is headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, and employs over 65,000 people throughout the country. They offer insurance products in all 50 states, and have recently expanded into the banking industry under the name State Farm Bank.

The primary sales force for State Farm is a network of independent agents (over 18,000) and agencies licensed to sell their products. These people and organizations do not generally work for State Farm directly, but rather are paid as independent contractors for selling and renewing their policies.

This is important to know for anyone looking at State Farm because it means your agent will not actually be employed by the company.

In addition, State Farm pays these agents sizable commissions for each new policy and renewal. These commissions are factored into the overall cost of the policy, and in many cases make them less affordable than direct-to-consumer companies like GEICO, Esurance and Progressive.

But enough about insurance rates. I will explore those in more depth further on in this review.

State Farm is organized as a mutual insurance company, which means they are technically owned by the policyholders and not outside investors. This can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how the company is doing overall.

In a nutshell, mutual insurance companies can pass profits on to their policyholders by way of reduced premiums or dividend checks. On the flip side, policyholders can be on the hook for lean years.

State Farm is the largest player in the personal insurance realm, and by a huge margin.

At the opening of this review I mentioned that State Farm makes up over 10% of the personal insurance market. This is huge when you realize there are hundreds of personal insurance companies in the United States.

Products and Services

As would be expected from a company of their size, you can buy just about any type of insurance a typical person or family would need from State Farm. Below is a list of their most popular products (along with a brief description), followed by some of my personal insight on specific insurance, offerings and add-ons:

Auto Insurance – Standard coverage options at play here, such as liability, comprehensive and collision. Optional features can be added, including roadside assistance, gap coverage and car rental reimbursement.

Home Insurance – State Farm offers standard homeowner’s insurance policies, as well as condo coverage and renter’s insurance. All policies will cover the insured’s belongings, and varying degrees of property coverage will be included to match the structure type.

Motorcycle Insurance – Like GEICO, State Farm has a surprisingly large motorcycle insurance portfolio, which makes sense because most people end up insuring their bike with the same company as their cars.

Health Insurance – While they are not thought of first as a health insurance company, State Farm does offer a lot of medical and medical supplement plans to their customers. There are multiple Medicare supplement plans available, as well as short-term medical coverage and dental insurance.

Disability Insurance – One of the more overlooked insurance policies, disability insurance is important for anyone that provides income which others rely on. We are much more likely to become disabled vs. dying during our working years, but most people tend to buy life insurance instead of disability insurance. (Hint: You can buy both!)

The list above is by no means everything they offer, but rather the most popular coverage options. Given State Farm’s size, they are a one-stop-shop for most personal insurance needs.

Now that we have covered what they have available, I am going to take a moment to interject some of my opinions.

Discount Double Check

The first thing I want to address is State Farm’s Discount Double Check.

We have all seen the commercials and the sales pitch. The idea is that your coverage needs and policies will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb to make sure you are both adequately covered and you have maximized your discounts.

This is a marketing pitch.

Sure they may use a fancy sheet of paper, and it may even be printed out on thicker-than-usual stock (depending on the agent), but that doesn’t change the fact that it is simply an agent doing their job.

Any insurance agent worth a lick is going to find the right coverage and the appropriate discounts for you. If they don’t, they are a bad insurance agent. This holds true for State Farm agents or any other agent out there.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with a State Farm agent going through a list in order to “double check” everything. Just don’t be fooled into thinking it’s some special program that provides extra discounts beyond what any other insurance company can offer.

Auto Insurance

I have reviewed State Farm three times over the last four years, and my overall assessment of their auto insurance coverage is it’s pretty good. Besides the Discount Double Check marketing pitch, they do not spend a lot of time trying to push silly gimmicks like Nationwide’s Vanishing Deductible or Safeco’s Accident Forgiveness.

My opinion is that many large insurance companies have found ways to tack on additional expenses to insurance products in an effort to raise customer’s rates and earn extra profits. State Farm is pretty good at avoiding this game.

Let me go on a slight tangent for a moment.

At its core, insurance is designed to make people whole again after a financially devastating loss. It prevents financial ruin after a car accident, death or some other unforeseen incident. It is not designed to pay $200 toward a dented bumper. The vast majority of these extra add-ons just drive up the cost of insurance.

Life Insurance

State Farm is a full service life insurance provider, and offers just about every type of personal coverage that is popular today.

The thing you need to know about life insurance is that whole and universal life products (permanent life insurance) are often heavily pushed by agents of all companies because they make way more money, not because they are necessarily the best choice for everyone.

In a nutshell, insurance companies have found a way to package investments with life insurance and charge a lot more for them. The reality is that buying a term policy and investing the difference in premiums yourself will often produce a much better return, given proper asset allocation.

I am not saying this because there is a systemic problem with State Farm agents pushing these products, but rather life insurance agents as a collective have a tendency to push people into permanent life options because they are so lucrative for the agent and insurance company.

Business Insurance

While I did not list it above, it should be noted that State Farm covers a lot of small businesses with their insurance needs. Here is a short and sweet list of the most popular products available under their business insurance banner:

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial Property Insurance

Inland Marine Insurance

Farm & Ranch Insurance

Group Life Insurance

Workers Compensation Insurance

Key Employee Life Insurance

State Farm Rates and Premiums

As you have probably gathered by now, State Farm is a huge insurance company. It is fair to assume that they are the standard when it comes to auto insurance, and their rates reflect that.

According to our last rate quote test, they are 2.2% higher than the average when we used our standard driver profile. This is well within any margin of error, so for all intents and purposes:

State Farm is Average.

While average may sound bad to some people, this was actually surprising to me given their agent-driven sales model. What I generally find when it comes to insurance companies that primarily sell through independent agents is that they are more expensive and often above average in terms of their rates.

Why are agent-driven insurance companies more expensive?

Because they pay huge commissions for each sale and renewal. Agents are often paid anywhere from 5-20% of the premium amount when selling a new policy or renewing one for a client. That is a huge markup that must be added to the policy in order to cover all the costs.

My hunch is that State Farm is able to combat the rising cost of their policies due to their size. By having their level of volume, they can afford smaller margins and still cover their costs.

Another thing to note when it comes to State Farm is that they are a mutual insurance company, which means policyholders do have a chance to get some of their premiums back by way of reduced costs or dividends. This could ultimately help lower the net cost of insurance policies.

Advertising and Media

I have to admit, when it comes to State Farm’s advertising, I am a fan. But my personal opinion about how funny their commercials are doesn’t help you find better insurance. What is the message, and are they trying to mislead consumers?

In my opinion, no.

The insurance industry as a whole is riddled with ads and commercials claiming you can save $XXX amount of money by switching to XYZ Company. The truth is that most people end up switching car insurance only when they get a better deal.

So why does that make ads misleading?

If company XYZ Company is, on average, more expensive than ABC Company, they will still periodically get a few customers that can actually save based on their driver profile. So if 100 people were to get quotes and only 10 of them actually saved, those 10 would be the most likely to switch.

On average, the ones that did switch actually saved money, but the vast majority of drivers out there wouldn’t.

These companies are not lying, and they work extra hard to make sure their message is factually accurate. But it’s my opinion that they are misleading, and the hope is the general public will see them as cheaper, when much of the time they are not.

So what does this have to do with State Farm?

While State Farm does engage in this periodically (as most insurance companies do), it is not their primary sales message. This scores points in my book.

And while we are on the subject of ads, here are my two favorite State Farm commercials:

State Farm Insurance Claims

As with most large insurance companies, State Farm’s claims process is very robust. There are a number of ways to report a claim, and staying on top of the status is very simple. These are some of the benefits of working with a large insurance company, since they often have more resources at their disposal.

Just like the majority of their competitors, State Farm utilizes a network of pre-approved repair stations for auto insurance claims. This network is called The State Farm Select Service Program.

When involved in an accident, customers have the right to get their vehicle repaired wherever they want, but State Farm would prefer they utilize their network. It can often streamline the repair process, since these shops work with claim reps on a regular basis.

Customers should not feel obligated to go through the Select Service Program if they prefer not to. Just know that if your chosen repair facility costs more than the pre-approved repair centers, you may be required to pay the difference out of your own pocket.

Customer Feedback

A few days ago I was updating my GEICO Insurance review, and pulled some stats about customer complaints, including those against State Farm and Allstate. They painted an unfortunate picture for GEICO, but a fairly positive one for State Farm.

To understand the numbers below, it is important to remember that State Farm is the largest personal insurer in the US, especially when it comes to car insurance. In fact, their car insurance business is twice the size of GEICO’s or Allstate’s.

The complaint board ConsumerAffairs.com shows the total number of complaints for each of the three companies as follows:

2,930 Complaints – GEICO

2,657 Complaints – State Farm

1,444 Complaints – Allstate

Why is this important?

State Farm is roughly twice the size of GEICO and Allstate, so I would expect twice the number of complaints. When in fact, GEICO has more complaints filed than State Farm, and Allstate has much more than half their complaint total as well.

The numbers on consumer complaint board Pissed Consumer show a similar pattern:

490 Complaints – Allstate

802 Complaints – GEICO

838 Complaints – State Farm

When comparing straight across, State Farm comes out way ahead of Allstate and GEICO, and that doesn’t even factor in how much bigger they are.

When you factor in the company’s size compared to the other two, I would have expected twice as many. The number of complaints are comparable to a company half their size, definitely a good sign.

Bottom Line

I have to admit, I have grown fond of State Farm over the past few years. Each time I review them, there are new positive things about their company that I find.

In my opinion, someone who prefers working with an agent and is not concerned about getting the best price will be well suited with State Farm. The advantage to working with in agent is you have a trained set of eyes looking over your insurance portfolio.

Just remember, agents are salespeople.

Their primary job is to sell you insurance, and they get a commission to do so. Just because you have a professional on your side, doesn’t mean you should blindly follow whatever advice they give you. Do your own research. There are bad eggs in every industry.

One final note for the budget conscience shoppers: If you are looking for the best deal on your insurance coverage, State Farm may not be the perfect choice for you. This doesn’t hold true for everyone, but according to our tests they are about average when it comes to rates.

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Review Information

Summary

Reviewer

Eric Stauffer

Review Date

2017-06-02

Reviewed

State Farm

Author Rating

4

About Eric Stauffer

I am a former insurance agent and banker turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.

Reader Interactions

Comments

State Farm is the absolute WORST vehicle insurance company I have ever dealt with. We were hit by a State farm insured driver. They failed to yield right away and were driving too fast for conditions. (Cited for both infractions). “M.C.A. § 61-8-339(1) says that “[w]hen two or more vehicles enter or approach an intersection from different highways, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the right that are close enough to constitute an immediate hazard.” State Farm is saying their driver is 80% at fault. Nowhere in the law does it say 80%. Our truck was hit on the drivers rear box side. The first interaction with an adjuster we were told their insured had her tickets dismissed in court so that is why they are stating the 80%. I called down to get a copy of the Police report and was told that she hasn’t even appeared yet. Then 3 weeks go by without a word from anybody at State Farm. I called 3 days ago to speak to a manager. Finally, I heard back today and they are standing with their 80% claim. We have no option other than filing a lawsuit against State Farm. I can’t believe they get away with their claims handling this way.

I recently sold one vehicle and purchased another which I promptly insured through State Farm. The rate quoted for this new vehicle was very reasonable and my agent was able to provide exactly the coverage I wanted in a timely fashion. I look forward to driving my new car with the knowledge that I have State Farm coverage should I ever need to file a claim.

I absolutely love State Farm! They have handled my claims perfectly and in a timely manner. I pay about 75 a month for full coverage (liability comprehensive collision roadside rental car pip/med pay ext) and renters with 50,000 personal property coverage. I don’t really use the agents office but the app and website are great and so are the customer service lines. They explained all the coverage to me and what it meant how it worked. Just awesome all around.

I have had State Farm car and homeowner’s coverage for many years and am just a pleased as you are about the rates, coverages, and handling of claims. I prefer dealing directly with my local agent but found it necessary to recently make use of the 800 number and website. I was extremely pleased with the responsiveness of the customer service representative at the 800 number, my local agent and his staff, and the claims adjuster. Through the combined efforts of all the State Farm representatives with whom I dealt, my storm damage claim was settled quickly and efficiently. Thank you State Farm for taking good care of this customer!

Yes, however, the rise in rates has always been very reasonable and very comparable to all the other insurance agencies providing insurance coverage in the region in which I reside. In short, all insurance agencies raise rates a little with each renewal.

I have had State Farm ins. for years with no claims. I insured my lake house with a dock for 5 or 6 years. December 26th 2015 we had a terrible storm and it tore my dock up. Without going into a lot of detail the dock was ins. For $40,000. The damage was around $27,000 and State Farm only paid $9,000. Bottom they only paid 30% of the damage. They didn’t pay the claim til into the summer, I didn’t get ro use it all summer. Still am very pissed. True story!!

As with all businesses today, the bottom line is everything. That being said, we have been insured by State Farm for 35 years and have absolutely no complaints other than the rising cost of insurance premiums. The rising cost of premiums is not applicable to just State Farm but to all insurance companies. In the past, State Farm has treated us very well addressing all claims in a timely and fair manner and we hope they continue to do so. In this age of “let’s automate everything we possibly can to avoid personal contact”, the best thing about State Farm is that they have local agents who can and will speak to you personally over the phone or in person face to face. All of the agents we have had have been invested in us as their customers, have been patient, courteous, and are knowledgeable about their policy offerings. They have explained everything clearly and answered all questions about policies and coverage. We appreciate the way they have handled our business and will continue to be their customer. If the cost of their policies is a bit higher than some companies, it is worth it just to be able to contact an actual person who cares about their customers.

My daughter had an accident this month September 2016 on the interstate and the state police arrived and completed an exchange of information form and made sure everyone was safe and then turned the drivers lose and saying to contact your insurance company. When my daughter called me I told her to go to the dealership and see if we could get a quote as we called the insurance company. Wow, was I wrong the dealership wasn’t in State Farm’s Network according the claims guy on the phone. He said they had no place and no one that could look at the car then and that an adjuster would come out in 3 to 5 days and they would quote the damage and they could give us places to take it or we could get it fixed wherever we wanted to as the money would be direct deposited to my checking account. I took the car to a shop to wait the 3 to 5 days and the shop called State Farm and within 24 hours they had someone on site strange when I was waiting up to a week. A call was made to claims and they advised soon as the adjuster’s report was approved the money would be deposited which should be by the next day. We heard nothing from State Farm and called claims the end of the week were told the amount was too much for direct deposit and they were waiting on me to call to find this information out. Then they became upset as there wasn’t a police report and chastised my daughter several times for the state trooper not completing state crash report. Several times the claims person became upset not wanting to take the answer that all the information from the state trooper was faxed to claims and if she had an issue with the state police she should call them. This did not seem to make her happy and she said do you know your rated can go up? The claims person then advised that the check would be sent in my daughter’s name the finance company with is out of state and no way to get them to sign it and then was told the check would be sent to the body shop where the estimate took place and she could talk them and sign it there. Now what happened to go where you want to get it fixed and we will deposit the funds into your account?
I now understand the TV Commercial, when the guy says I don’t have the wrong coverage I have the wrong company. I have never had any claims against my policy with State Farm and I have Auto/Home Coverage and I wouldn’t recommend this company for anything as the day after the crash a State Farm Person calling wanting to talk about refinancing the car with State Farm and when asked did you see the crash in the file she said yes and then said, “I guess you don’t want to talk about refinancing.” Not, I sorry to bother you or is everyone OK nothing at all.
This has been the worst customer service experience I have had with any company.

I have been with State Farm for 42 years and have signed up my wife and all of my children with them and satisfied until recently. We had hail damage in our neighborhood – all of the homes adjacent to me received new roofs along with 30% of the neighborhood so I inspected the ceilings in my home because I don’t get on the roof. I seen water damage in my master bath and called for an inspection. He inspected roof and said there was minimal damage but not enough for a roof . I asked him to look at my ceiling inside the home and he in turn found water damage and agreed to pay for ceiling repair but declined there was any roof damage saying it was coming in from a vent cap and would pay for that . Upon taking him back outside to find there were no vent caps on that section of roof he still insisted there was not enough roof damage to pay for a roof. I called in to get a second opinion which I was informed I had the right to – I have requested a second opinion 8 times in the last month with nobody coming or calling . When hurricanes hit the coast and demolished homes and tornadoes hit the Midwest and destroyed towns my insurance rates went up despite me having a claim , I wondered where the money from all of the customers that have paid for years went to instead of being set back for these kinds of catastrophies [ corporate greed ?] Now that I have a claim , they are ignoring me – not returning my calls and denying me another opinion. Their slogan of ” Like a good neighbor – State Farm is there ” Their commitment and integrity has been lost like all other corporations in the United States. Our world is doomed when we don’t care about one another and it is sad for our children.

Sorry to hear of your loss. I lost my living room floor, water damage in the hallway, ceiling damage in the living room. They write me a check for $1600.00 and said that will cover all the damages. The replacement of the floor was $1570.00 alone. Any suggestions?

[Redacted] State Farm agent in Columbus Indiana his staff could care less about the policy holders they are supposed to serve.They are disrespectful and the hateful and do not have time to assist with insurance issues especially where it’s close to lunch time. Called several times to discuss issues of with agent but he is never available when you call.

I was injured in an accident 7 yrs ago. Left me with lots of health issues, because of this accident, which was a five car accident. I went to court and was awarded 45,000 for my injury and out of my settlement i had to pay back over 16,000 for doctor bills and any money they paid out. what insurance company does this? especially when you have state farm as your own company. I thought they where suppose to pay for all doctor bills related to my claim but not state farm make sure you read the fine print when you have an accident. they are a bunch of lying, deceiving, cons that find out how to take money from a 70 year old women.

I was angered when the claim adjuster I was working with at State Farm. She stated that a friend of mine “doesn’t know what he is talking about”, the less I thought of you handling this claim. The friend I was speaking of works for an insurance company as a Liability Adjuster handling million dollar claims. My friend stated that for the area we live in, conservatory the amounts range from low of 15,000 to high of 30,000. He stated take into account the medical amount + the vehicle repairs which came to an amount, which by the way you came up with, so 6736 for medical & 4568 for the vehicle, so the amount was 11,304. And hit 1.5 times that amount and divide it by two which then came to 8478. The settlement for personal injury would be 8,500. she offered $7,000 initially which is the lowest end you could possibly do. I feel that as soon as I stated I had a friend in insurance that when I called to negotiate with her that she was going to be rude. The amount of this claim is chump change if compared to other claims of a similar style. This was a multiple vehicle rear end accident where the two vehicles behind me both had start farm for insurance. In the middle of me trying to explain what my friend states, this adjuster jumped at me with that my friend knows nothing. If I could go back in time to when this accident happened,, which by the way was July 2015 and this call just happened today January 2016, I would have ran to the hospital immediately, then directly to an attorney office things may not have taken this long and be handled so rudely. Maybe I am lucky that I haven’t because no one deserves to be treated the way this adjuster at State Farm treated me.

I have been with State farm since I turned 15 years old had to have insurance to take drivers ed. I am now 63.
I went to take my car payment to [Redacted] office in Owings mills Md and the assistant [Redacted] told me she could not take my payment so I put it in the mail box at the post office in Owings mills. I got a call while I was driving home with my accountant and was told because I had been hospitalized that my car was paid off in full. My accountant was with me when I got this call. Guess what State farm did! They repossessed my car.
I am thinking law suit. Any comments can be e-mailed to my at dancer830@comcast.net

[Redacted] is the worst agent! DO NOT TRUST HIM! I had account with him for over 10 years, but when I switched to Allstate because they kept raising payments every month by $8-11, they refused to refund money on two policies. It’s been 6 weeks and I just called to ask about refund they said: “you are no longer our client and we don’t have to give you any information”. Wow, what a shame for a business to be this disrespectful and arrogant.

LISTEN UP EVERYONE WHO’S TRIED TO FILE A CLAIM WITH STATE FARM AND THEY REFUSED TO COOPERATE!!!

It is very simple if they don’t do exactly what you want when you file a claim, forget about hiring a lawyer. You can simply hire a public adjuster who will work for free on a contingency basis. And get you exactly what you want.
AND…wait for it…
Simply file a complaint form at the California department of insurance.
CDI will quickly put State Farm in their place and make them pay for everything on the claim and it’s free, the governments dept of ins has FAR more power than anybody else to enforce state farms pathetic cheapness to pay out.
State Farm does not want to have bad records with the government that’s why they will pony up.

I have enjoyed State Farm for many years. Met the new staff as they came and went.
So far the service has been tremendous and they always make me understand what is being said.
I have no desire to go anywhere in the future.

My parents have been with this company for 10 years so when I started driving I of course trusted them… In December of 2014 I bought my first car and of course you have to have insurance before driving it off the lot. My dad payed $300 that day…. and a month later some how that money was never payed. They never notified me about anything!!!! I was not with them for even a year and they switched my insurance agent with out telling me three times!!! my insurance was canceled and they did not tell me till 10 days later. In May a payment did not go through and no one told me then they canceled my insurance again I had no idea for 3 weeks. I never received mailed or emailed about anything as far as I knew I was still insured!!! Because of this i have to pay the MVA $400. Also while I was uninsured I was rear ended… guess what I have to pay for the damage on my car and pray the other car involved does not sue me! so thanks statefarm for putting a 20 year old through so much!! I will never insure with you again!!!

I have been with State Farm for over 55 consecutive years. There are not many of us. During these 55 years I have received nothing but excellent service. My policy has been reviewed every few months and has been adjusted downward based on new age, record and miles driven. The claims that I have had were settled quickly and hassle free. They are very friendly and helpful. My premiums have never gone up because of a claim. My agent is home town and local. There is no dealing with dialup computers, press 1 for adjuster, press 2 for agent, press 3 for claim, none of this hassle. My agent is almost a neighbor. I have checked competitive rates over the years and never found any company that beats State Farm in rates and service. I’m a lifer….Dean S.

I had a claim with State Farm 1.5 years ago. There process was terrible and I had to call them constantly because I felt if I wasn’t on them constantly I would never get the money from the claim. It took over a month and a half to get my claim and I feel like it would have taken much longer if I wasn’t on them constantly. I feel like the amount was good. After all of this and signing forms to sign the car over to them I received many calls from them asking for me to sign the car over to them and I told them I had already done that. They told me that they never received the form. So now their claims and their agent both were terrible. After all this I got a new car since mine was totaled and switched insurance companies. I receive another call from the local agents office telling me I had to sign back up for insurance through them because I had to have insurance and the told me I had to pay 2 months up front. I was a pre-existing customer and refused to do that and told them I had insurance through another company. They wanted to know what my coverage was and I told them I felt like they shouldn’t be asking me that. Then the lady asks me what one of my coverages was and was a [Redacted] when I told her that I felt as if that wasn’t her business. I will never go back to State Farm after that experience. Although ever insurance company is the same. It is all about the money and they couldn’t care less about the customer.

Mr. Eric Stauffer, I am a lifetime State Farm insured. Age 52. My dad retired from SF auto claims about 20 years ago. I left my SF employment in 2007. Unethical supervisor commanded me to deny a covered loss. When I refused to deny coverage I was suspended. I was 20 years in Homeowners claims. I am currently still insured with them but that will be changing soon.

SF has less complaints imo because they ignore complaints. Perhaps we should talk. I think we can use your help.

There is a problem with insurance right now. People are being cancelled for one claim. They are being cancelled for weather related losses in states where there are protection laws. SF can ignore complaints, they can handle claims in bad faith, and they can violate some laws in states…because of their size and finances. Money talks. Period.

I’ve had State Farm auto and homeowner insurance for 30+ years. The reason I stay with them is that they have never failed to pay out a claim. They cut a check quickly and never hassle me.

SF uses agents and if you move around a lot you’ll find that the quality of the local agent will vary. It is in your interest to understand what your insurance needs are. Educate yourself and use the knowledge to assess the quality of the local agent. If the agent doesn’t appear to understand your requirements or doesn’t appear have your interests in mind, be cautious about any advice he/she may give you. Up until very recently, I have found SF agents to be competent and not pushy or intrusive.

I was struck by a car on February 28th while stopped at a red light. There was at least one car in front of me, one on the side, and one behind me. A traffic barrier was on the left hand side of the car. We were completely stopped. The incident was investigated by the Palm Bay police department. My car was driven by my son who was driving me home from the ICU. The car that hit the car behind me was driven by a frequently cited and unemployed and driver and owned by her mother. I have been in touch with my State Farm insurance agency who has advised me, thru a subordinate, to submit the claim as a non-insured driver claim and to pay the deductible as if I were at fault, and Geico, the insurer of the responsible car who claims they have inadequate coverage to cover the $1500 damage. My agent has to date refused to return my calls. Geico initially denied responsibility, later admitted responsibility but claimed the insurer holds inadequate insurance, and as of last week agreed to send an adjuster to my home by yesterday; he/she has neither called or appeared. Both the investigating officer and other driver have acknowledged responsibility as per the police report. To date all calls to the corporate office have routed me back to my local agent and the unresponsive claims adjuster.

I understand and I have had a negative experience with them lately as well. Please see below

Discrimination Due to Stage 4 Breast Cancer Metastatic

WEST HILLS, CALIFORNIA — I was involved in an automobile accident on 04/06/14. I was the passenger of a vehicle that was rear ended. The driver of the vehicle that rear ended us had Mercury Insurance and they paid the policy’s maximum of $50,000 and awarded the driver and myself $25,000 each.

Our mutual attorney filed a first-party underinsured motorist claim, using the driver’s insurance of the vehicle I was in, which is State Farm. The State Farm Adjuster, [Redacted], offered the driver $70,000 new money and offered me nothing although both of us suffered nearly identical shoulder tear injuries. The tears in our shoulders were verified by the results of MRIs we received.
Moreover, the majority of the damage was on the passenger side on the rear of the vehicle.

I am also unsure why the adjuster was asking my attorney about my longevity, since it had nothing to do with the accident. I have stage 4 breast cancer metastatic to the bone. The adjuster stated to my attorney that the reason he was offering zero is because I waited 6 weeks to be treated and the damage to the car was minimal. I had in fact gone to Urgent Care immediately after the accident but the office was closing. Based on my MRI results, it showed that the tear on my shoulder was a result of the accident. The other reason the adjuster gave my attorney for offering zero was because I had already been paid by Mercury Insurance. It was explained to the adjuster by my attorney that I had waited six weeks after the urgent care to treat further because I had just had a Bilateral Mastectomy less than 90 days prior to the accident and that I was hoping the pain in my shoulder would go away. It is my contention that the adjuster [Redacted] has discriminated against me and ultimately made the decision not to pay me as he is banking on the fact that I have stage 4 breast cancer metastatic to the bone, and I may not live long enough to go through the arbitration process.

I have been a customer for 30 years of State Farm. About three years ago now I was hit by a drive who was under insured. Right off the bat I got a letter saying I was 51 percent at fault. The police says it was all her fault. State Farm is doing every thing in there power not to pat. But They don’t pay to much attention to there own lawyers. There lawyers have you in a deposition for hours and they want you to tell them you life’s history where you were born, who you dated everything that has nothing to do with the case just to line there pockets with State Farms money. I bet after this is all settled they will raise my rates. On another story my father never had a claim then he had an accident that was not his fault but no other car was involved. Something was spilled on the road that caused the accident. State Farm tripled his premiums. Now we know why they have as much money if not more than the banks.

State farm insurance is getting away with not paying for the damage done to my home and stolen property when my home was burglarized because [Redacted] took my name off my home owners. [Redacted] never paid any premiums to state farm. I paid state farm the premiums every month. [Redacted] died in 2009 and state farm insurance still got paid the premiums till Sept. 2009.
State farm agent refused to do any thing to help me resolve this matter. State farm ripped me off because their isn’t a lawyer willing to help This company breaks the law and the consumers are the ones WHO ARE GETTING SCREWED !!!!!! State farm should be in jail for what they do to the consumers.
there ISNT AN AGENCY TO PUT A STOP TO THIS COMPANY !!!!!!!! The insurance commissioner is a crock of crap. They protected state farm……

We have a justified complain against State Farm Insurance and the agent that we’ve had to deal with. After many calls to him and receiving a different story about why we hadn’t received the check for the damage done to our property by one of State Farm’s insured customers. We were told the check was mailed on 5th of July and as of 7/11/14 we hadn’t received. My husband called the agent on the 11th and he upset my husband so much with an additional lie he told us. At that point I ask my husband to let me talk to him, I told him we had been told so many lies and he told me he wasn’t a liar and hung up on me. I’ve never had a experience like this before. We had nothing to do with the damage done to our property but we are the ones that are having to deal with an agent for State Farm that is rude, and could care less, the situation he has put us in. The insured that is insured with State Farm knocked down our brick mail box and a retaining wall. There is a police report that shows he was ticked for failure to maintain his vehicle. I don’t understand why we are the ones suffering from this damage and have not had anyone to try and help us out with this claim. Insured’s Name-[Redacted], claim #[Redacted]. Our Property address: [Redacted]

I am a customer of State Farm and I’m thinking about going to another company. The reasons are as follows:

A rock hit and broke my vehicle’s fog light. I called my agent. We talked on the phone for quite a while and was given all kinds of bad information. After answering all the questions, we were told that we could go and get it fixed, but it was recommended by the agent that we go to one of their listed businesses to get an estimate, and we will also told that we could go to a place of our choosing, which is not really true based on the experiences that I had with them. We informed them that we were going to North Point Toyota on Landers Road in North Little Rock, and also gave them the ZIP Code. This started on a Friday. They said they would call and inform North point Toyota of this, but it didn’t happen. They called another company and deliberately tried to guide us to where they wanted us to go. We arrived at North point Toyota Tuesday, and we asked had State Farm called as a salesman scrambled around China sign information about our claim. we decided to call State Farm again. We were put in contact with another agent, and then were told at that time that we had to go to a claim office in which they located for us that wasn’t too far away. I was baffled because I thought this would be a short easy process for something this minor. And so we are constantly losing time because each time we talked to State Farm we were given a little bit more of the information instead of us getting everything on the initial phone call that we made about our claim. So after arriving at the next claim station, we were told that they couldn’t do anything for us until a claim adjuster showed up and he wouldn’t be in until tomorrow. We had already located the part at North Point Toyota, and gave that information to [Redacted] the Collision Repair Coordinator on Landers Rd., Sherwood, AR 72117. He told us what it would cost to get it repaired, which was cheaper than North Point Toyota, but they could not get the part until State Farm sent them some type of correspondence. But this is beginning to be too long to process. Bottom line, we were not given all the information needed to process this claim, we were guided to a company that we had no interest in after being told we can go any place that we wanted to go, and our time was wasted, which we know will not be able to get back because of this process.

One incident among many so my one experience does not mean much in the “scheme of things.” However, my tale is better than none at all.

Large tree branch fall upon my nearly-new pick-up truck. Thud. Hood and grille and fender crunched. Luckily, only sheet metal damage. I followed that offering of using a repair facility approved by State Farm. It was a local Chevrolet dealer body shop at the dealership. The work was done quickly but not so fast as to indicate slip-shod work. The truck looked like new when finished. That was eight years ago and the repair job, including the new paint, has held up so that there is no indication that repair work had ever been done.

Having a top-notch repair facility on State Farm’s go-to list suggests to me that State Farm cares about its customers.

And, my dealings with the several agents across the land as I moved to and fro, has led to my remaining with State Farm for decades. I feel confident referring the firm to those seeking insurance.

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback. Usually when people are satisfied, they are less likely to hit the internet to share their experience. Good to know there are some agents and companies out there doing their job correctly!

Very true, Eric.
I do a lot of research on many various topics…just a hobby of mine…and its clear that thousands of happy customers rarely say anything. Its generally when people are upset about something that they do have something to say, so it can appear that a company is horrible when in reality they arent.

The wife and I switched to Statefarm some time ago after being with a very expensive Geiko for a few years. Statefarm was actually able to give us so much insurance for slightly more than we were paying for bare bones policies before.

Under Geiko we had
$50k in personal liability for our renters insurance.
Minimum state coverage LIABILITY ONLY for auto insurance.
It cost me about $56 a month.

With Statefarm we now have.
$500k (10 times than with Geiko) for renters liability.
10 times the state minimum FULL coverage (everything) on auto insurance.
And a $2 million ($2,000,000) Umbrella policy.
Not to mention $25k Identity theft insurance and a couple other small things.
Its costing $74 a month right now…just under $20 more a month for a LOT more insurance.

My State Farm homeowners policy was just cancelled because as their letter stated, “The risk is no longer acceptable to State Farm Fire and Casualty Company due to your loss history.” We had ONE, yes I repeat, ONE loss, the result of water damage from the apartment above. The cancellation letter further references New York homeowners whose properties is located in or around coastal areas. I live on the 8th floor of a 14 story high rise coop apartment building located NO WHERE near the coast.

Why have insurance if when you file ONE CLAIM, your policy is cancelled and the “risk no longer acceptable.?”

It’s not like State Farm is the only company that you can buy insurance from, so it sounds like you are more “hurt” that they are dropping you. You fail to realize that it may have nothing to do with “your one claim” and more to do with the building you are living in / area. Every property is getting looked at, and you having a water damage from leaking pipes or upper stories may just be a red flag.

You also fail to mention how much you were paying in premium and how much State Farm acutally paid out in the claim. Did you have the policy for a year, two, five, ten? What was the total premium paid in and how much did State Farm right you a check for?

As you state New York Costal areas are being reviewed and State Farm may just be pulling out to lessen their exposure. This is not criminal, this is just a company choice.

In close State Farm is a MUTUAL company so they have a duty to ALL policyholders ALL over the United States, not just New York. If Florida, California, and New York are deemed too risky you may just be caught in restructuring of risk.

Risk and Risk Management is what insurance companies strive to do most effectively. In insurance a good rule to live by is: Don’t use for the Inconveniences, Use for the Devestations.

After having been with State Farm for over 26 years, carrying auto, life, home, and umbrella policies simultaneously, and never having filed any claims, we just received a notice that they are canceling our umbrella effective one month from today. They give no valid justification other than we have someone under 25 living in the home. We don’t have anyone under 25 living with us; we are just a married couple over 50–with not even a dog or any pets in the house. No claims ever. It makes no sense. I have heard so many horror stories about State Farm for years and they are one of the priciest companies, as it is. We will file a serious complaint with Commissioner of Banking and Insurance for our State and will make it our mission to expose their egregious practices. This is completely unacceptable.

Insurance companies can get away with anything. I have Nationwide right now and they raised my rates last month because they said the accident rate in my area is higher. Not that I had an accident. So because other people have had accidents my rate is higher. I have made 1 insurance claim in my life and it was deemed not my fault since my car was hit while I wasn’t even in the car. There is no insurance company who actually cares about the customer. They want your money and that is all.